Experiment No.

1
Title: Determination of Band gap of a given Semiconductor

Aim: To determine the band gap of a semiconductor.

Theory:
Electrical conductivity of an intrinsic semiconductor is given by

𝜎 = 𝑒𝑛𝑖 (𝜇𝑛 + 𝜇𝑝 )

and
𝐸𝑔
𝑛𝑖 = 𝐶𝑒 − 2𝑘𝑇
where, 𝑛𝑖 is the intrinsic carrier density (number of electrons or holes per unit volume), k is
Boltzmann constant, Eg is the band gap of the semiconductor and C is a constant. Further, on
application of a constant voltage V to sample with length l and cross section area A, a current I is
produced. Hence
𝐼 𝑙
𝜎= = 𝑒𝑛𝑖 (𝜇𝑛 + 𝜇𝑝 )
𝑉𝐴
𝑉𝐴 − 𝐸𝑔 𝐸𝑔
∴ 𝐼 = 𝑒(𝜇𝑛 + 𝜇𝑝 ) 𝐶𝑒 2𝑘𝑇 = 𝐶0 𝑒 − 2𝑘𝑇
𝑙
Where 𝐶0 is a constant.
𝐸𝑔 1
∴ 𝑙𝑛(𝐼 ) = 𝑙𝑛(𝐶0 ) + (− )
2𝑘 𝑇
1
Comparing this with the equation of a straight line 𝑦 = 𝑚𝑥 + 𝑐, where 𝑦 = 𝑙𝑛(𝐼 ) 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑥 = 𝑇

𝐸𝑔
𝑚=−
2𝑘
∴ 𝐸𝑔 = −2𝑚𝑘

Design of experiment:
From the above theory, it is obvious as that for a constant voltage V to a semiconductor
1
sample, the current will vary with temperature such that 𝑙𝑛(𝐼 )𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑢𝑠 𝑇 is straight line and its slope
𝐸𝑔
is 𝑚 = − 2𝑘 . A commercially available thermistor is placed in an oven whose temperature can be
varied by a heater and the temperature can be measured by a mercury thermometer. The thermistor
is connected to two 1.5V batteries connected in series to supply constant 3V to the thermistor and
a milli-ammeter is connected in series to measure the temperature as shown in the diagram
Apparatus: Oven, thermometer, thermistor, milliammeter, battery
Diagram:

PROCEDURE
1. Connect the circuit as shown in the diagram.
2. Measure the normal temperature and corresponding leakage current.
3. Start Oven.
4. Measure current from room temperature to 75°C, in steps of 5°C each.
5. Measurements can also be carried out as the thermistor cools down from 75°C to 35°C in
steps of 5°C each.
6. Calculate lnI and convert temperature t in °C to T in K, i.e. T = t+273 and 1/T.
7. Plot a graph of lnI vs. 1/T and find the slope of graph, as m.
8. Substitute m in the formula 𝐸𝑔 = −2𝑚𝑘. Use 𝑘 = 8.6 × 10−5 𝑒𝑉 ⁄𝐾 to get 𝐸𝑔 in eV.
9. Calculate the error in the measurement of 𝐸𝑔
 Observation Table:
0
Least count of thermometer = 1 C
Least count of milliammeter = 0.5mA
Sr. No. t ( C)
0
I (mA) T (K) xi=1/T (K-1) yi=lnI
1 30 4.5
2 35 6
3 40 7.5
4 45 8.5
5 50 10.5
6 55 12.5
7 60 14.5
8 65 17
9 70 20
10 75 23
Graph and Calculations:
Draw a graph of lnI versus 1/T (K-1). Calculate the slope m. Alternatively, use the numerical
method, outlined using an example below, to find the slope m.

Calculate the band gap, 𝐸𝑔 = |2𝑚𝑘| and ∆𝐸𝑔 = |2∆𝑚𝑘|

Result: 𝐸𝑔 = _________ 𝑒𝑉 and ∆𝐸𝑔 = _________ 𝑒𝑉

Conclusions:
__________________________________________________________________

Questions:

1) Co2O3 and Si have a band gap of 1.5 and 1.12eV, respectively.

(i) For a given applied voltage, which material will have larger current through it at a given
temperature? (Assume that the value of C0 is the same for both the materials)
(ii) Which material will have a larger slope for lnI versus 1/T (K-1) graph? Why?

2) Diamond and Si have a band gap of ~5eV and 1.12 eV, respectively.
(i) Find the temperature 𝑇 at which the resistance of diamond will be equal to that of Silicon at
300K, i.e. 𝑅𝑆𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑜𝑛 (300𝐾 ) = 𝑅𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑑 (𝑇). (Assume that the value of C0 is the same for both the
materials)
(ii) Find the temperature at which the resistance of Silicon will be equal to that of diamond at
300K, i.e. 𝑅𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑑 (300𝐾 ) = 𝑅𝑆𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑜𝑛 (𝑇). (Assume that the value of C0 is the same for both the
 materials)

Example for Numerical calculation of the slope and intercept of a straight line

Example: A set of points (xi, yi) is measured in an experiment. Theoretically, y is known to vary
linearly with x. Fit a straight line to the following data and determine its slope and intercept:

𝑥𝑖 𝑦𝑖
0 27.7
10 70.2
20 105.1
30 145.6
40 192.8
50 228.1
60 280.3
70 299.9

Solution:

∑(𝑥𝑖 − 𝑥̅ ) 𝑦𝑖
𝑚=
∑(𝑥𝑖 − 𝑥̅ )2

and
𝑐 = 𝑦̅ − 𝑚𝑥̅

𝑑𝑖 = 𝑦𝑖 − 𝑚𝑥𝑖 − 𝑐 𝑑𝑖2
𝑥𝑖 𝑦𝑖 (𝑥𝑖 − 𝑥̅ )𝑦𝑖 (𝑥𝑖 − 𝑥̅ )2
-0.50833 0.258399389
0 27.7 -969.5 1225
1.84762 3.413699664
10 70.2 -1755 625
-3.39643 11.53573674
20 105.1 -1576.5 225
-3.04048 9.24451863
30 145.6 -728 25
4.01547 16.12399932
40 192.8 964 25
-0.82858 0.686544816
50 228.1 3421.5 225
11.22737 126.0538371
60 280.3 7007.5 625
-9.31668 86.80052622
70 299.9 10496.5 1225
∑ 𝑑𝑖2
𝑥̅ = 𝑦̅ = ∑(𝑥𝑖 − 𝑥̅ )𝑦𝑖 = ∑(𝑥𝑖 − 𝑥̅ )2 =
254.1172619
35 168.7125 16860.5 4200
 ∑(𝑥𝑖 − 𝑥̅ ) 𝑦𝑖 16860.5
𝑚= = = 4.014405
∑(𝑥𝑖 − 𝑥̅ )2 4200

𝑐 = 𝑦̅ − 𝑚𝑥̅ = 168.7125 − 4.01 × 35 = 28.20833

1
1 ∑ 𝑑𝑖2 2
∆𝑚 = [ ] = 0.100419
(𝑛 − 2) ∑(𝑥𝑖 − 𝑥̅ )2

350

300

250

200
y

150

100

50

0
0 20 40 60 80
x
Fig. A straight line fit to the data
Application of Thermistor (Extra Information):
Electrical conductivity of an intrinsic semiconductor is given by

𝜎 = 𝑒𝑛𝑖 (𝜇𝑛 + 𝜇𝑝 )

where
𝐸𝑔
𝑛𝑖 = 𝐶𝑒 − 2𝑘𝑇
where, Eg is the band gap of the semiconductor. As the temperature increases, the number of
charge carrier increases and hence the electrical conductivity increases or electrical resistance
decreases. The temperature dependence of the number of charge carriers depends on the band gap.
By calibrating of resistance of the semiconductor device with temperature we can use it as a
temperature sensor.
The resistance of the semiconductor is thus given by
𝐸𝑔
𝑅 = 𝐷𝑒 2𝑘𝑇
where D is a constant.
𝐸𝑔 1
ln(𝑅) = ln(𝐷) + ( )
2𝑘 𝑇
1 2𝑘 2𝑘
∴ = ( ) ln(𝑅) − ( ) ln(𝐷 )
𝑇 𝐸𝑔 𝐸𝑔

At a reference temperature 𝑇0 (usually room temperature), let the resistance be 𝑅0 , then

𝐸𝑔
𝑅0 = 𝐷𝑒 𝑘𝑇0
1 2𝑘 2𝑘
∴ = ( ) ln(𝑅0 ) − ( ) ln(𝐷)
𝑇0 𝐸𝑔 𝐸𝑔

1 1 2𝑘 2𝑘 2𝑘 2𝑘
− = ( ) ln(𝑅) − ( ) ln(𝐷) − (( ) ln(𝑅0 ) − ( ) ln(𝐷))
𝑇 𝑇0 𝐸𝑔 𝐸𝑔 𝐸𝑔 𝐸𝑔

1 1 2𝑘 𝑅 1 𝑅
∴ − = ( ) 𝑙𝑛 ( ) = 𝑙𝑛 ( )
𝑇 𝑇0 𝐸𝑔 𝑅0 𝐵 𝑅0
𝐸𝑔
where 𝐵 = 2𝑘 is a constant which depends on the band gap of the material. This can be re-written
as
 1 1 𝑅
𝐵 ( − ) = 𝑙𝑛 ( )
𝑇 𝑇0 𝑅0

Alternatively,
1 1
𝐵( − )
𝑅 = 𝑅0 𝑒 𝑇 𝑇0 = 𝑅0 𝑒 −𝐵 ⁄𝑇0 𝑒 𝐵⁄𝑇 = 𝑟∞ 𝑒 𝐵⁄𝑇
where

𝑟∞ = 𝑅0 𝑒 −𝐵 ⁄𝑇0
Thus the transfer function of the thermistor is

𝑅 = 𝑟∞ 𝑒 𝐵⁄𝑇
Solving this for temperature, the inverse transfer function is obtained as
𝐵
𝑇=
ln(R⁄𝑟∞ )
The temperature coefficient of resistance α is defines as
1 𝑑𝑅
𝛼=
𝑅 𝑑𝑇
But
𝑑𝑅 𝐵 𝐵
𝑅 = 𝑟∞ 𝑒 𝐵⁄𝑇 , ∴ = − 2 𝑟∞ 𝑒 𝐵⁄𝑇 = − 2 𝑅
𝑑𝑇 𝑇 𝑇
1 𝑑𝑅 𝐵
∴𝛼= =− 2
𝑅 𝑑𝑇 𝑇
The negative sign indicates negative temperature coefficient (NTC). The change in resistance as
consequence of change in temperature is given by

∆𝑅 = 𝛼𝑅∆𝑇

Fig. 6.2 Temperature dependence of a Thermistor

Example: For a thermistor, made of Germanium with a band gap of 0.66eV, the value of resistance
𝑅0 = 2250Ω at 𝑇0 = 25°C. If the resistance of the thermistor is measured to be 10kΩ, then what
is the temperature? What is the sensitivity and temperature coefficient of resistance α at this
temperature? If the temperature is increased by 1K, what is the change in resistance?

Solution: Given 𝑅0 = 2250Ω at 𝑇0 = 25°C = 298.15K, R = 10kΩ

𝐸𝑔 0.66
𝐵= = = 3837.2𝐾
2𝑘 2 × 8.6 × 10−5
𝑟∞ = 𝑅0 𝑒 −𝐵⁄𝑇0 = 2250𝑒 −3837.2⁄298.15 = 0.005791601𝛺
𝐵 3837.2
𝑇= = = 267.18𝐾
ln(R⁄𝑟∞ ) ln(10000⁄0.005791601)
𝑑𝑅 𝐵 3837.2
Sensitivity 𝑑𝑇 = − 𝑇 2 𝑅 = − 267.182 × 10000 = −537.5Ω/°C

1 𝑑𝑅 𝐵 3837.2
𝛼= =− 2=− = −0.05375 /°C
𝑅 𝑑𝑇 𝑇 267.182
change in resistance ∆𝑅 = 𝛼𝑅∆𝑇 = −0.05375 × 10000 × 1 = −537.5Ω

i.e. resistance decreases by 537.5Ω with increase in temperature by 1K.

(Google Thermistor and temperature compensation circuits)

A few materials used in Thermistor are enlisted in Table 1. It can be seen that a material
with large band gap has a large resistance at the same temperature. As an example, resistance of
thermistor made of Mn2O3 with a band gap of 5eV has a resistance (~1023 Ω) at 200K which cannot
be measured, whereas, for Ge it is 5.5MΩ. Further, if temperature is found from inverse transfer
function at R = 106 and 102 Ω, which could be taken as output range of the thermistor then the
input range of the thermistor is larger for materials with smaller band gap and vice versa.
Table 1 Band gaps for some semiconductors used in thermistor and thermistor parameters

Transfer function Inverse Transfer Function

Eg
Material B(Ω) T0(K) R0(Ω) 𝑟∞ (Ω) Input Output Output Input Output Input
(eV)
T(K) R(Ω) R(Ω) T(K) R(Ω) T(K)
Mn2O3 5 29069.77 298.15 1000 4.52982E-40 200 6.02946E+23 1000000 278.4 100 305.3
NiO 3.2 18604.65 298.15 1000 7.9413E-25 200 1.99241E+16 1000000 268.4 100 309.5
TiO2 3 17441.86 298.15 1000 3.92327E-23 200 2.93878E+15 1000000 266.6 100 310.3
Fe2O3 2.3 13372.09 298.15 1000 3.32504E-17 200 3.62183E+12 1000000 258.3 100 314.2
Co2O3 1.5 8720.93 298.15 1000 1.98072E-10 200 1714287049 1000000 241.1 100 323.6
Si 1.12 6511.628 298.15 1000 3.27312E-07 200 45162958.08 1000000 226.5 100 333.2
Ge 0.66 3837.209 298.15 1000 0.00257396 200 553345.9803 1000000 194.0 100 363.1